Trying really hard to OS but the prices keep going up

THIRZAH

I remember the 70s. We were just married .There seemed to be one strike after another. I'm sure that in one of the power strikes even the street lights went off.I used to carry a torch in my handbag and can remember trying to find my way down the stairs of the Liver Building in Liverpool in the dark.The TV stopped at about 10pm every night in one power shortage to save energy.

The bakery workers went on strike at one time- that led to my first experience of trying to make bread.There were shortages of toilet paper, salt and sugar. Then the lorry drivers went on strike and there were people panic buying in the supermarkets. We were living in a tiny flat so hadn't much room to store food. I was working in Manchester then and somebody came into the office and said that Macfisheries supermarket on Deansgate had sugar. Our boss let us all go out. We went along to the shop and there was a pallet of sugar on the floor and we were allowed to buy one bag each.

We did survive but I hope we don't go back to those days.

betterlife

im a bit of a novice with all of this aswell, but is all of this really going to happen and how quick. ive already noticed that the prices are going up in the supermarkets. but is the rest talk of what might happen or is it definete.

zarazara

I have a landrover, diesel engine, we need it as we live in a very rural area and have ruted mudy lanes.it isnt a chelsea tractor.its needed. and its a defnder, not a disco or anything flash. its costing a fortune to get to the ral station daily and next yr the tax will be going up too. theres simply no concession for rural people.

tim_n

mary43 wrote: »

Do I go for capping ?
Mind boggles it really does

MSE seems to be suggesting that prices will rise.

When you cap, you are basically volunteering to pay more than the standard rate. If the prices rise above that capped rate then you have made a good decision. If they don't, you haven't!

Obviously if you cap now and in 9 months the prices rise higher than the cap and then go back down, that's not a good deal either.

Personally I have just capped my prices (applied yesterday) - I have done calculations on my own bill to see prices have risen about 11% for me and if as people expect the rises are between 15-45%, the 12% extra I will be paying on a cap now will be worth it.

Then again, they might not. Check out the energy board to ask this kind of question ;-)

zarazara wrote:

its costing a fortune to get to the ral station daily and next yr the tax will be going up too

can you cycle?

lil_me

zarazara my son would love that, he's got a real thing for Defenders. Unfortunately there is no concession for anyone, not just rural.

Diesel is already a smidge under £1.30 per litre here.

I just spoke to my partner about the work situation here, taxi fares which are decided by the local council are going up by 10p per mile soon, which of course will put people off using them.

IMO the government will have to do something about it. To be honest as a family we'd be 'financially' better off on benefits if things get any harder because of the fact that on them we wouldn't need the car to get to work or be using the fuel to get to and from work (partner works until early hours and is no public transport then, getting to work would be 3 buses) wouldn't be paying for the likes of school meals, wouldn't be paying as much rent (even if they'd only pay half which I think the LHA is) wouldn't be paying the whopping council tax bill etc etc.

I think it'll be in the governments best interest to ensure people aren't 'worse off' by going to work which will happen in a lot of cases for low wage earners and those who's jobs feel the impact of fuel costs the most. My friend has just given up a job doing parcel deliveries in her own car as what she's being paid per delivery is barely covering the costs. She's now back on benefits looking for something else.

We've just bought our first caravan, when reading these predictions in the papers my first thought was 'have we made a huge mistake' but then when I have thought about it at least we can just go somewhere locally for a break, maybe 15 miles up the road or something which will cost us the site fees & say £10 in diesel. At least it's still a break.

zarazara

yes,can cycle up to a point [or rather distance!]we are about 10 miles from nearest train station and its a narrow hilly road. the main problem is the traffic, theres not a lot of it, but when it comes its fast [ 60 mile an hr speed limit] its a chicken and egg thing. it would be safe to cycle with no vehicles on the road [ tractors,cars,delivery vans etc] but its taking your life in your hands otherwise, narrow road with hedges, no footpath or anywhere to get out of the way of speeding motorists.
also OH has to drive to work, its 16 miles away and theres no public transport what so ever that direction.

crockpot

How long long before Mr t and others put their delivery prices up? don`t like paying it now.

they are building an Aldi about a mile from me, downhill ther uphill back!

It`s my wedding ann soon, so will have to put a `wally trolly` on my list, might even lose a few lbs!

jackk_2

The petrol rises are a real worry for me. I start university in Sept, and i'll need to commute from Kent into London. I was planning on driving but the petrol rises may mean it's cheaper to go by train, but then it the extra time. Time wise i'm not gonna have enough hours in the day as it is. I need to just keep reminding myself it'll be worth it in the end, for myself and my family, but blimey it's a real worry :eek: .

Jackie x

Essex-girl_2

We have the cheapest petrol prices in Europe before tax and the dearest after. The goverment have made millions more in tax because of the fuel increases - the only good thing about this is the possibilty that they could do some kind of tax reduction if prices got even more expensive.

Some food prices have gone up because of transport but a lot because of the world shortage of food. I beleive it when they say that we have to change the way we eat or a in a few years they will be serious shortages. However saying that I think most people on OS are eating that way any with very little waste - its just the rest of the country that need to change!

Bitsy_Beans

Even if the wonderful <ahem> government were to cut tax in fuel duty it would have to be a hell of a lot to make any real difference. My local tescos were selling petrol for £1.16, even if they wiped off 15 pence as reduction in fuel duty it's still just over a pound. I remember when it used to cost 80-odd pence and I thought that was expensive.
It's just so depressing, we need to bring back horse and cart at this rate! My car is a Mondeo, not terribly expensive but we needed it in order to take 2 adults and one toddler camping (in the UK - at least I am paying back to UK tourism). with baby number 2 due in a few weeks time I am going to be penalised next year due to the car I drive in car tax. I need an estate car since our family is growing. You can hardly pull a trailer with a Ford KA

I do wonder how much the supermarkets take advantage of a situation like this to justify price rises.......